"It all comes out in the wash"

[christmastreewithhairyfairy]

What does this phrase mean to you?

I've been saying it for decades but just googled it and if the internet is correct I've been using it wrong! So I wanted to canvas the wise vipers of mn

I thought it meant if you had a bad day, don't worry as you get to start afresh tomorrow. Everything will be renewed.

If you put a grubby grey dirty towel in the wash and then it comes out white then the true colour shows, hence the truth has been uncovered in the wash.

It means the truth will come out eventually

Well, Merriam-Webster has both meaning, but lists how you've been using (and how I use it) first:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/it%20will%20all%20come%20out%20in%20the%20wash#:~:text=informal,be%20solved%20in%20the%20future
Oxford (I only have access to the Learner's dictionary) has the two meanings with the "truth will out" meaning first:https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/wash_2#wash_idmg_4
Cambridge only has how you've been using it:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/it-will-all-come-out-in-the-wash

Whereas Collins only has the "truth will out" meaning:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/come-out-in-the-wash

So you weren't wrong, because there's no one accepted usage!

I’ve only ever heard it used this way, but it seems there’s a battle of the dictionaries!

Both definitions are valid https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/it-will-come-out-in-the-wash

I thought it meant the truth will come out eventually?

I think it actually means both at once. It’s basically: don’t worry or niggle about the small details, because eventually the right outcome will occur, things that were unclear or hidden will be revealed, and everyone will get what they deserve (good and bad!) out of the situation.

Neither of the merriam Webster definitions really capture how I've used it (things even out over time)

Quite a few definitions agree with you. Also 'the wash' meaning the wash from the sewer rather than the washing machine.

I thought it meant, things even themselves o if over time

For me it means the truth will eventually come out.

It means the truth will out.
Not, it will all be ok.

I thought it meant that, with time, the goods & bads balance out in some situation / about someone.

The wash refers not to cleaning but rather to enormous churn & state of flux (like tides go in & out of The Wash).

Maybe it’s because I’m ND but I literally thought you were talking about stains on clothes! I’ve never heard this saying before so I’d take it quite literally, like the kids got super muddy but it’s ok it will all come out in the wash 😂😬

Everything will be OK in the end. The same way clothes come clean out of the wash.

This is how I use it in Scotland. Don't know if there's a regional variation 🤷‍♀️

I would definitely say it means ‘the truth will
out’. However, if someone said it to me
in another context about ‘things being
ok in the end’ I’m sure I would understand
it. Hopefully they didn’t think that you were implying they had lied!!

That’s sounds unlikely, as a Spanish writer in 1605 is hardly going to reference the Wash.

I think it means that the truth will eventually come out.

The truth will out, good will win the day.

I think it means "the truth will come out" too.

I'm the same as other pp. Its nothing to do with it will be fine, its to do with secrets being revealed at some point.

It means the truth will come out eventually.

Definitely it will be ok in the end (Scotland)

There's a finance expression of things being a 'wash' where it means things will even out or offset each other. So that may be where the mix up arose.